Carpool/ nurofen scary!!!

Hobbitfeet

Just came across this on calpol and nurofen and I couldn't believe it. I use calpol occasionally and have friends who give it every night, as suggested by gp, while their babes are cutting teeth. I won't be using it again
http://www.diaryofafirstchild.com/2010/04/20/calpol-what-every-parent-should-know/

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/346400/behind_the_label_calpol.html

dublinlady

Hobbitfeet wrote: »

Just came across this on calpol and nurofen and I couldn't believe it. I use calpol occasionally and have friends who give it every night, as suggested by gp, while their babes are cutting teeth. I won't be using it again
http://www.diaryofafirstchild.com/2010/04/20/calpol-what-every-parent-should-know/

http://www.theecologist.org/green_green_living/behind_the_label/346400/behind_the_label_calpol.html

Tell the authors to talk to someone whose child had febrile convulsions due to an untreated fever...
It's about balance. Fever is not always a positive physiological response as suggested here. It's an indication if infection and if untreated can be fatal.

Balance....

Squiggler

Thanks Hobbitfeet. I was at my TCM Doctor last week and while he was treating me we were chatting. When I mentioned that L is teething he said "dose him up with Calpol and baby Neurofen". I was shocked.

I pointed out to him that the reason I was there being treated by him for my back problems instead of going to my GP for a prescription was that I believed pain was there for a reason and that there were less harmful ways of lessening it. I'm going to send him those links

CommanderC

oh god. What a raving lunatic !!

Hannibal Smith

eek ....some stranger says not to give my kid calpol I best bin the lot of it and watch my kid in agony!

implausible

Oh for God's sake - any of those ingredients in HUGE quantities would probably not be advisable for small children. Many of them are extremely common e.g. sorbitol is in chewing gum, glycerol is found in many ice-creams. But no parent is giving their child a bottle of Calpol every night!

I'm extremely careful about what I feed my 8 months old daughter - I breastfed her up until recently and apart from formula now, everything else she consumes is home made or made from natural ingredients. A 2.5ml spoon of Calpol the odd night is not going to undo this.

A bit of perspective people:rolleyes:

Gee_G

Yeah I agree. Really don't think they'd be selling it if it was bad for them OP!

Xdancer

Absolute scaremongering. It makes me so mad to read articles like this that terrify the more gullible people into believing they are harming their child by giving them something to ease their pain every now and then.
I'm not saying calpol and nurofen should be the first port of call for every little ailment, but there is nothing wrong with giving them every so often.

implausible

And another question - what do people think is in Calpol? Does anyone seriously think that medicine is supposed to naturally taste sugary and palatable to babies?!

wmpdd3

Supositories have no flavourings!

How Strange

We use suppositories for major illnesses and high fevers. Our gp said calpol isn't strong enough for fevers over 39oc.

I really try to avoid using medication but what do you do when your little one is screaming in agony from teething or with an infection/virus? Sometimes needs must and I think we're very lucky too be able to give them something to help.

Nonoperational

You can write stupid articles like those about pretty much anything. Complete ****e and no balance at all.

Squiggler

The fact of the matter is that a lot of the ingredients in Calpol are bad for babies... yes, lots of things are bad for babies and you have to decide what is worse... but as Calpol is not the only option surely it is good to be informed and make an informed decision.

As some have mentioned suppositories have none of the artificial flavours, colours and sweeteners.

The additives mentioned in that first article are not merely suspected of having those negative effects - official studies have been conducted and those are among the known side effects.

Reporting the result of published studies is hardly scaremongering.

Hannibal Smith

there is no way I would dream of giving a suppository for teething. for a high fever..yes...after I sought medical advice....for teething no. nor would I sit there and watch my kid in pain. seriously the absorption of unresearched amber for a kid is acceptable, but medically approved calpol is a no?

there are negatives and side effects to every
single kind of medication hence why you only take it if you really need it.

so give it or don't...but just make sure you know exactly what you're doing and not just acting on the back of some blog by some woman with no scientific or medical background who is spouting nothing but her opinion and telling you not to act on a fever.

Squiggler

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

medically approved

Thalidomide was medically approved too. Medically approved does not automatically mean good for you or baby.

There was a time when people believed wholeheartedly that formula was better for babies than breastmilk (some still seem to) and that was also supported by Doctors, hospitals and pharmacies.

Yes, people should do what they think is best for their baby, and if that includes giving them Calpol, or bonjella, or anything else then that's the parents choice, but there is a general assumption that lab produced, Dr approved, medicine means no harmful effects - and that is not always true.

I wasn't suggesting that suppositories should be used for teething, people mentioned fevers.

taytothief

Sure half of us were raised on Calpol. Tis mighty stuff...

Hannibal Smith

Squiggler wrote: »

Thalidomide was medically approved too. Medically approved does not automatically mean good for you or baby.

There was a time when people believed wholeheartedly that formula was better for babies than breastmilk (some still seem to) and that was also supported by Doctors, hospitals and pharmacies.

Yes, people should do what they think is best for their baby, and if that includes giving them Calpol, or bonjella, or anything else then that's the parents choice, but there is a general assumption that lab produced, Dr approved, medicine means no harmful effects - and that is not always true.

I wasn't suggesting that suppositories should be used for teething, people mentioned fevers.

seriously? thalidimide and calpol ???

as I said...all medicines have side effects...just because they are medically approved does not dilute that...nor did I say it did.

And I wasn't responding specifically to you...I was responding to the general mention of suppositories

formula is irelevant ....your kid has a slight temperature....is crying in pain...do what you think is best for the kid on the best and most informed information at your disposal.

Squiggler

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

your kid has a slight temperature....is crying in pain...do what you think is best for the kid on the best and most informed information at your disposal.

On this I totally agree, and those blogs (while biased on the don't touch the stuff side) were informative. Many parents are not aware that those colourings and additives can have some serious side effects (which can affect some children more than others).

The example of formula is not irrelevant, I was trying to give examples of things that were once recommended by Doctors, but have since been withdrawn as 1st choice. Doctors used to recommend smoking while pregnant to make labour easier too.

As medicines are in circulation for longer their side effects become better known and their usage recommendations change. The Calpol "half of us were raised on" almost certainly had a different formulation - many of the artificial ingredients found in modern day Calpol were not in common circulation when most of us were infants.

As for sorbitol being found in chewing gum if you look at the pack it also carries a warning that it may have a laxative effect, sugar free mints (also containing sorbitol) also carry this warning and are not recommended for young children - and none of us are going to give chewing gum or ice cream to our babies.

Calpol once in a while is unlikely to do much harm, but there are people who give their children Calpol much more frequently than once in a while, mistakenly believing that it won't do any harm.

Squiggler

The Lancet, cited in the second article, also published results of a study in 2009
which found that administration of paracetemol to treat post-vaccination fevers can actually render the vaccine less effective, or even uneffective and that it should not, therefore, be routinely recommended for treatment of febrile reactions.

The Lancet, for any who don't know, is probably the best known conventional allopathic medical journal in the world.

Here's the summary of the study

Hannibal Smith

but calling nuerofen and calpol scary and saying you'll never use it again because of a blog, as the op is doing is a bit ott ...no?

Squiggler

Hannibal Smith wrote: »

but calling nuerofen and calpol scary and saying you'll never use it again because of a blog, as the op is doing is a bit ott ...no?

Well, if the OP feels that way about it then surely that is his/her right? Each of us can make our own decision and chose what we think is best for our children. It's one of the nice things about living in Ireland as opposed to some other countries where parents have less control over what is done to their children.

Some of us might think it is a bit scary that something that some Doctors recommend as a cure all staple carries risks that the Doctors don't mention, or contains ingredients which are banned in many other countries because of known side effects.

I think attacking the blogger and the OP as scaremongers etc. for pointing out something that is medical fact (however dramatically) is also ott.

Balance is important, so is knowing what we are putting into our children and weighing up the risks and benefits.

January

Thread closed.